1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of heat sinks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat sinks are widely used to enhance the transfer of heat between a heat source and the surrounding environment, typically a gas or a liquid. Heat sinks are used in a wide range of applications and are commonly used in electronics to remove heat from electronic components and assemblies.
Heat sinks come in many shapes and sizes. Some popular heat sink designs consist of a base and a number of fins and/or pins coformed with the base or attached to the base by brazing, soldering, bonding or some other process that provides good heat conduction between the fins and base. The heat sink is typically made from a highly thermally conductive material, usually aluminum or copper. The high thermal conductivity of the metal combined with the large surface area of the fins facilitates the transfer of thermal energy from the heat source to a surrounding fluid, which is typically air but may be other gases or liquids. In some cases, the fluid is forced through the fins such as by a fan in order to increase the rate at which heat is transferred from the heat sink to the environment.
Most heat sinks consist of one or more fins (fin type) or one or more pins (pin or pin-fin type). Pin type heat sinks typically are more effective at removing heat than are similar-sized fin type heat sinks, but fin-type heat sinks typically are simpler to fabricate, and are therefore lower in cost.
As electronic devices have increased in power and decreased in size and price, the demand for higher capacity, compact and low-cost heat sinks has also increased.